A YOUNG motorist whose speeding car went out of control and struck a pedestrian causing fatal injuries has been cleared of causing death by dangerous driving.

But Adam Isherwood was was convicted of driving without due care and attention by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court.

Ordering him to pay a fine, costs and compensation totalling £1,325 Judge John Roberts said the offence involved him not keeping a proper look out, making the wrong decision in overtaking and driving too fast.

"The result was the death of Brian Kedward, an innocent man who was walking home along the pavement," he said.

He banned Isherwood from driving for 12 months.

During a three-day trial, the court heard that 62-year-old Mr Kedward was struck as he walked along Lord Street, Leigh, at 6.30pm on November 29 last year.

Isherwood, who had been travelling at 35 to 45mph, lost control while overtaking another car which began to turn right. He struck the kerb and shot across the road and hit Mr Kedward, who was at the junction with Bedford Street.

Isherwood's two-litre Vauxhall Calibra then ploughed into an estate agent's office and collided with a stationary car before ending up in the middle of the road. Mr Kedward died from multiple injuries.

Isherwood, aged 22, of Westminster Drive, Higher Folds, denied causing death by dangerous driving.

He said: "If I had known what the car in front of me was going to do, I would have avoided the accident If he had signalled right and moved over, I would have known what he was doing and gone past on the left.

"As I started to go past him, he started to move into my lane without indication."

He said he had made a split -second decision which turned out to be the wrong one.

He denied that he had been exceeding the 30 mph speed limit to try to get away from a white Vauxhall Astra which contained friends of his ex-girlfriend and who had made threats against him on an earlier occasion.

The car he overtook was a red Vauxhall Astra, driven by 24-year-old Gareth Crook, which was in the left hand lane of the one-way street. Mr Crook told the court that he had indicated his intention to turn right into Charles Street before Isherwood started to overtake him.

Isherwood was fined £1,000, ordered to pay £200 prosecution costs and £125 compensation to the owner of the stationary car, who had to pay the excess on his insurance policy.

The court heard that almost £5,000 worth of damage was caused to the estate agent shop but the judge declined to order compensation for that damage.

After the hearing, Mr Kedward's brother, Alan, who now lives in New Zealand, said: "It would seem life comes extremely cheap in the UK with a fine of £1,000."